Originally Posted by fabgod View Post
Just for the record, I am based in the UK, apart from the This Morning TV apperance, there was very little press coverage of the Stephen Birch claims, which is odd in the fact that we seem to have had plenty of sightings on the tabloids yet when a body is mentioned, we see almost nothing?
Because i think Birch is taken to be unreliable (if he had evidence a body could be buried there he should have gone to the police and left the with it, not gone climbing over walls investigating himself).
You think? thats not really worth much is it? If there is a possibility that there is a body there and there is supporting evidence, then it should be investigated and should be pushed by the parents without doubt
Regarding the TV appearance, i find it disconcerting to hear Kate McCann asking "who is this person"? in regard to Stephen Birch, wouldnt the obvious thought be to want the area searched (again) if there was even the slightest chance of a body being in the immediate vicinity of Madeleine's last known whereabouts. I can't see the same response being made if a jogger or a rambler found a body?
First Birch did not find a body, he claims to have gone onto property and made a scan which he says is a body. If the McCanns have been informed by police that soem random guy was hopping over walls scanning areas already searched, why would the Mccanns decide they want the area searched again. I would assume the police have more information than the general public. And "who is this person" is a very good question, Birch is just some nobody who claims to have information which made him suspicious of this area - how on earth did he come by this, and why keep it to himself until he had done the search. By breaking in and searching himself he would ahve wrecked the investigation, so any intelligent person would have handed the information to the police.
I'm starting to find your responses a little disappointing now, Just a nobody? do you have to be someone to find Madeleine? If I was to find her living next door to me, would I be discounted because I was a nobody and not intelligent as you have accused Mr Birch of being?
Incredible thought process imo
Why not keep the information to himself, just for a moment, take off your McCann glasses and think that this guy, is thousands of miles away, if, he is genuine (and I am not saying he is or isn't),
If he had no faith in the forces involved (same as the McCanns wth the PJ)
Would it not be rational to think "I will get as much proof as possible so as to not get discounted"
Really, you cannot state that there is not a shred of evidence, by simply rubbishing the forensics, they were found in the apartment, they were found in the hire car, whether or not they can be substantiated at this time is another matter, there was more than one dog involved in the searches as far as I remember and they did seem to come with quite a good reputation at the time, Isnt Martin Grimes working with the FBI now, I am pretty sure they wouldnt employ useless staff but that again is my opinion.
there were no forensics that need to be rubbished. The one dog Eddie was an EVRD trained to alert to bodily fluids as well as cadaver scent, and the other dog was trained to alert to blood. There is no way of telling what the EVRD was alerting to, and since there had been at leats one incident of serious bleeding in the flat (previous occupant claimed to have bled for forty five minutes), both dogs could have alerted to that. grimes claims they are very sensitive. I do not think Grimes is working with the FBI now, I think the dogs cannot work in the UK now (at least not for the police). But Eddie did alert in jersey and the material turned out to be a coconut shell, and Grimes does state that Eddie alerts to bodily fluids like dried blood.
In the car the dogs alerted to the card fob, but this had material that belonged to Gerry (one profile matching his components). The material in the boot was some sort of bodily fluid, but the DNA showed it came from three to five people, and whilst fifteen of madeleine's nineteen different components were there, these components were not identified as coming from one person and coudl just as easily have come from kate and Gerry (or even been contributed to by any of madeleine's relatives). So even if it did contain blood, it could have come from Gerry etc.
No, you are wrong, there were forensics that were tested, these forensics were alerted to by the dogs you are so keen to discredit, If the forensics still exist, there is no reason why technological advances at some time in the future, might not be able to extract further information from.
Regarding Yeremi Vargas, a 7 year old boy in a different country is hardly the same MO as a 3 year old girl, I can take your point that all leads are worth investigating on order to eliminate them ( shall we go back to the Stephen Birch claim now?) but that means that every abduction would have to be investigated across half the world.
Only if there was a connection. Two british suspects were in Gran canaria either working as or posing as workers for holiday flats when a child disappeared. two months later these same suspects were several hundred miles away in the rough area another child was abducted. Think of peter Tobin and Robert Black they abducted their vistis hundreds of miles apart. It may just be a coincidence, but it shoudl be looked at.
Yes if there is a link, then it should be investigated, but to start implicating missing persons from all over Europe would be too costly and too time consuming.
In a perfect world, finances would not be an issue, but unfortunately the suspects you mention are tenuous at best at this time
You seem to keep implying that I am accusing the McCanns of killing their daughter, I havent implied that or stated that, what I am stating is that actions seem to be at odds to words in this case, it seems that there is an element of trying to force apoint of view here that It happened a certain way, the facts are that there is no evidence of an abduction just as much as there is no evidence of murder or harm coming to the child, while that is the case, then all options should be considered, not just one persons view.
i think it is fine to consider views, but many seem to be basing these views on out and out lies, or distortions (like the "sixty facts" leaflet, which is full of rubbish). Look at the way people have claimed the fifteen components mean it is more than likely Madeleine's DNA. This is just not the case, and is a major misrepresentation of the facts.
I really don't think you are in a position to state a major representation of the facts, Whatever the Madeleine foundation put out is not anything to do with the investigation and that is what we are here to be discussing, the whole point of a forum like this is to try and find answers, to my mind, you are not really interested in considering views, you simply want to discredit anything that goes against your stance, as I stated above, that isn'tmy perception of this forums purpose.
We can argue back and forth forever, but in a case with such little evidence as this has, everything has to be considered, whether it be Dogs, forensics, statements, anything, because somewhere, there will be a clue that leads to a conclusion
If we are ever to see a resolution to this sad case, the investigating Police force should investigate the case, the case is not active and there is a simple way to reopen the case, yet that option is not being taken, why is that?
The Portugues police say they need new evidence, but the Portugues police are reviewing the case.
You cannot get evidence if you do not search and as mentioned before, there is Stephen Birchs' claims and there is an opportunity for the McCanns to work with the Portuguese PJ and request re-opening the case
Just for clarity, if my child had gone missing, I wouldnt be spending money on legal teams trying to stop people talking, I would be spending that money on doing everything I could to find my child, I would put everything on hold until I had exhausted every option and every penny to find an answer, I wouldnt be interested in helping other children I would want to help my child and I would never give up until time ran out, but thats just me!
As for legal costs in the UK these were met by no-win no fee arrangements (and they do have two other children, and they should not have to put up with people descending on their home to spread bile) and in Portugal the arrangement for fees has not been clarified, but as they are trying to stop someone who is telling people she is dead and hindering the search it is worth doing in my case. besides if they win the other side will likely have to pay compensation to the fund as well as costs. But the McCanns have spent a lot of investigators, and rasing awareness. They also petitioned to have scotland yard review the case. They have done a lot to find her.